Meet the Japanese challenger to Google Glass: Telepathy One

This article was taken from the August 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.

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No, it's not Google Glass -- it's a Japanese rival called the Telepathy One, due to hit the market later this year. Created by technology entrepreneur Takahito Iguchi, based in Tokyo, it has a simple purpose: to make human connections more intimate. "It's to video stream what each person is viewing and share that experience," Iguchi says. "If every human being could understand what each person is thinking and feeling immediately, it would be an amazing, lovely world."

The Telepathy One is a sleek headset covering one side of the head, with a micro-projector in front of one eye. "It looks as if there's a five-inch screen floating in the air, about 45cm from your eye," says Iguchi. A camera captures what you see, communicating via your smartphone's data connection, and by Bluetooth.

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Iguchi has worked with augmented-reality technologies for 20 years, but wearables are an exciting new direction, he says. "I think it is a very natural thing to do, to try to connect human relations to the network," he explains.

Having established an office in San Francisco, Iguchi and his new team are hoping to focus on software development and seeking venture capital. His company, Telepathy Inc, hopes to be selling the headset in the US by the end of the year, at a price which will "significantly undercut" Google Glass. "We would like to have a similar impact on society as the first-generation iPod," he says.